Alhasan Doguwa, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, announced his desire to compete for speaker of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday. He cited his four wives and 28 children as evidence that he would be a successful speaker.
Doguwa, who represents Kano State’s Tundun Wada/Doguwa federal seat, said in a speech at a ceremony in Abuja that he had paid his party’s dues and that the time had come to reward him with the position.
He made this statement in response to claims that, because of his unpredictable behaviour, he lacked the skills and temperament necessary to succeed the current speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Even as the House of Representatives Chief Whip, he admitted, “I did not display any high temperament. People who describe me as having a high level of temperament have the wrong idea of Ado Doguwa.”
Political Career
In 1992, Alhassan Ado Garba, popularly known as Alhassan Doguwa won his first election to the House of Representatives of the now-defunct Nigerian National Assembly. He was a leading member who backed the selection of Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Third Republic.
Doguwa was appointed as the governor of Kano State’s special adviser on environment in 2000. He later worked as a Special Adviser on Governmental Affairs and Political Party Affairs to Senate Presidents Chief Adolphus Wabara and Senator Ken Nnamani, respectively.
In 2007, Hon. Alhassan was successful in being re-elected to the House of Representatives, where he later rose to the position of Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The people of Tudun Wada/Doguwa Federal Constituency re-elected Hon. Doguwa in 2011 after he had diligently served the country and, in particular, his constituents. At that time, it became more evident that he is in fact a parliamentary asset, having served as the Chairman of the House Committee on MDGs. Hon Alhassan is also the Chairman of the African Network of Parliamentarians on MDGs.
In 2015, Garba was elected to serve for the fourth term in the Lower Chamber, where he was overwhelmingly elected as the 8th Assembly’s Chief Whip after the defeat of his Speakership nominee (Femi Gbajabiamila), who lost to Yakubu Dogara.
However, his appointment as Chief Whip led to a rift with Femi Gbajabiamila, which allegedly ended their long-standing friendship and tore their team apart.
